Incentives needed to keep intensive care doctors

The need to provide additional financial incentives to doctors in the intensive care units of public hospitals has been stressed in comments to Kathimerini by Dimitris Georgopoulos, professor of pulmonology and intensive care at the University of Crete and until recently director of the ICU at Iraklio University Hospital.

“Somehow, substantial financial incentives should be provided for doctors who work in ICUs. It’s a very, very hard job,” he said, stressing that studies have shown the doctors who most often experience burnout are those in ICUs.

Existing salaries, he said, in no way reflect the difficulties the job entails, lagging significantly behind other specialties.

“Soon we will have no ICU doctors. Those who will come to the units will stay until they find something else. If they are not a bit crazy, that is, love what they do, they will prefer to go somewhere less physically demanding,” he said.